Rai Dance

Understand

Where Rai Dance comes from

Rai (also Rahi or Ree) is a folk-dance and song tradition of the eastern UP Bundelkhand region (Mirzapur, Allahabad, Jaunpur, Sonebhadra). The form belongs to the body of folk-song dance traditions of the region, performed at the wedding ceremony and at the harvest season festivals. The Rai form is associated with the celebrations of the rural village life of eastern UP, and the song lyrics (rai-bol) are typically romantic or heroic in nature, sung at the wedding procession and at the wedding house. Today the dance continues in cultural programmes of UP and is documented as a regional folk tradition by the state.

How it's practiced

Rai is performed by men and women of the village at weddings — typically in two facing rows or in a circle — moving in coordinated side-steps and claps to the song led by a lead singer. The dance builds in tempo as the dholak speeds up, with the dancers' hands on the hips and the characteristic wrist-rotations and upward-claps of the form. Music is the dholak with the nagara and the manjira supporting. Costume is the traditional regional dress of Mirzapur-Bundelkhand — the colourful sari for the women and the dhoti-kurta for the men, with the heavy silver jewellery of the village women. Performances are held at the wedding house during the pre-wedding eve (the sawan sandhya), with the dance building over the night.